When Andi, Dean and their building neighbors decided to re-paint the faded exterior of their Victorian home, it quickly became apparent that the process was not for amateurs. Located in the Alamo Square neighborhood of San Francisco, not far from the famous painted ladies, their building is over a century old. Full of intricate architectural detailing and historical significance, it was important to take the proper steps to restore their exterior, both for the sake of maintaining its historical value and bringing back the vibrant color and detail it once embodied.
Since the project involved an important piece of SF history, as well as requiring an investment of time and money, they looked to an expert for guidance. Architectural color consultant Bob Buckter, whose experience included the building's previous paint job, completed in the 80's, consulted on color choice and location. The new scheme included nine colors: five shades of blue, along with burgundy, white, black, and gold. Hiring a consultant to help with the process took some pressure off of the decision making, and helped to avoid what could be a pricey fix.
The painters, from Winning Colors, were talented and meticulous. They spent three months on the job, which unfortunately meant three months of scaffolding for the building inhabitants. With great attention to detail and emphasis on quality, at times they brought in carpenters to repair cases of dry-rot before painting. The gold is actually gold leaf, used to protect the woodwork from water damage while simultaneously adding an element of sparkle to the exterior.
While this job required a team of experienced professionals, Andi and Dean have developed quite a repertoire of their own remodel projects. Since purchasing their home, they've completed numerous improvement projects (mostly all on their own) including their bathroom, featured here on Apartment Therapy. In addition, they are recording all of their renovation efforts on their blog Project: Nest, which includes their post about the Painted Lady.
(Images: Andi Forker)
(Re-edited from a post originally published 02.06.12 - NM)
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I didn't think the "BEFORE" was half bad... but the "AFTER" is stunning!
Nice job, it looks very stately. As for the "five shades of blue." From the picture, I can't see a diffrence.
I live in SF and I was sad to see this go from the nicer 'before' color to such a dull and drab color. Most Victorians in SF are painted with multi colors; makes them seem like they are smiling. I was disappointed with this 'after'.
I don't think this is dull or drab at all. A more unusual color doesn't = brighter. It looks better cared for and shinier in the after picture and the first one looked a bit neglected.
I like the detail and the contrast a lot.
I think it looks really good.
As for the comments regarding the five shades of blue and looking dull and drab, Internet and web browsers are not good sources for color, especially with amateur lighting, no offense.
Love the color choices, and the gold accents.
But I don't think the window blinds work that well with the overall Victorian vibe.
I absolutely love Victorians! So, it's no surprise that I love both the before and after. Beautiful!
They posted the wrong blog address. It is http://sfprojectnest.blogspot.com/.
It was much prettier before.
It is really hard to see on an internet browser with poorly lit pictures, but the "before" colors appear to have been really washed out. The "after" colors look much sharper and the gold is far from drab. I like it!
Is there a way to see a photo in the same angle as the "before" photo? I think I like the new paint job, but it's hard to compare.
Beautiful job. I'm normally all for DIY, but choosing colors on the outside of a house, particularly one as ornate as this, is really, really hard. The after is incredibly crisp, feels modern and at the same time completely Victorian.
@ THESMILEQUEEN Thank-you for catching my mistake! The links to Project: Nest and Andi's post are correct now.
Check out Project: Nest for additional views of the exterior.
It is gorgeous. I'm not really a fan of garishly painted Victorians.. I'm from New England where Victorians like this are everywhere and most seem to be garish colours... not really sure where that trend came from, but I don't think it does justice to the homes. I'm sure the architects didn't have magenta in mind when they were designing these houses.
Having said that, this paint job is absolutely beautiful. It really brings out the detail in the building, which an "all over" job of one colour kind of disguises.
The five shades of blue are there, just not in your face... the darker blues are mainly in the trim and details. They're subtle, but they give it dimension and impact.
It's a great paint job and it looks very stately, but the colors sucked fun out the building. I'd add orange in there to help balance it out.
I'm with the "before" crowd. I would have liked to have a more colorful re-do.
How unfortunate. I think the "before" is so much prettier--it's more fun and seems more welcoming. I never understand large quantities of white paint on this kind of Victorian. The Painted Ladies are so much more fun when they are colorful. When I was growing up in San Francisco, I would have pegged this "after" as having been done by someone who didn't "get it."
The "after" is gorgeous and rich; stunning.
Notice how in the before the ornamental detail didn't really stand out, and now it is celebrated.
The overly-bright colours on Victorians became popular in California in the late '60s and early '70s, but they are historically incorrect. The "after" paint scheme demonstrates quite accurately how the home was supposed to be painted.
I applaud the owners for going to the time and expense of doing the job right!
I like when people paint these ornate Victorians crazy colors -- I guess because I think they're really gaudy and kitschy so why not just have fun with it? So I don't really like the "after" even though I get that the owners were going for something stately and formal and historically correct. They have certainly achieved that, so money well spent. Curious to know, what does a paint job like this cost?
I love a little bling!
I like the after, but they are going to have one heck of a time finding the right blue color when they have to paint over graffiti! I speak from experience, and we only have two shades of blue.
I always wonder how much paint jobs like this cost! Guesses? 10K+ easily... but 50K?
Looks lovely, but it's just a repaint, maintenance, not a restoration. (This word...I do not think it means what you think it means.) Restoration would imply they researched the home's original coloring and details - and original Victorian colors were often very garish! Our 100+ year old home was originally mustard yellow with brick red trim, our neighbors home would have been lighter yellow with red, and my father's office cottage is pale grey with red and two shades of green trim (original colors!). Finding original colors is absolutely do-able, by the way, as long as there is existing original siding and trim to sample from. In cases of a personal home, where live-ability and personal preference trump the historical accuracy, this doesn't factor quite so much, but still.
My technical gripes aside, the house looks lovely and the painters look to have done very careful work among the details. I like it - the colors are similar to our home's current paint scheme (pale blue/white/black).
Wow! My favorite San Francisco victorians are the ones with gold accents, so I love this. It manages to be both gaudy and classy at the same time, unlike the brightly colored ones that are just gaudy.
Why don't they ever take the After picture from the same perspective?!
The paint job looks awesome but it's so difficult to know how truly drastic of a difference it is.
Sorry for the rant, again, it does look really cleaned up.
The after is not much different than the before. Actually, I didn't realize I was even looking at the after shot at first. I was expecting hot pink or something really different.
From when I first moved to San Francisco in 1972, I've noticed Bob Buckter's name all over town on Victorian houses with the most exquisite color choices. He's amazing.
The new paint job is graceful and sophisticated, perfect for the classy old girl. The amount of gold used is just right.
I shudder to think what it cost, though.
I feel it is a little too safe.
before was already so beautiful! this house is magnificent
I liked the before better.
Love it! They used more contemporary colors but brought in some of the old world feel with the gold leafing (classy). I wonder if folks would give a better review of the house if they could see a picture of it from a distance, like the "before" picture. It's hard to get a thorough perspective/understanding of the after result with just close up pictures of the house. But I think it looks nice!
I think the before is just a poorly lit photo. It's still seems like it would be stunning. But the second pic makes it look obviously brighter, and the gold accents make it seem more expensive. I think the after may be better if only because this house will stand out compared to the one next to it painted in the dark mauve palette.
It's certainly beautiful, I love the Victorian architecture. The after looks like gray and white, so I think maybe it's the lighting or angles. I really loved the before though. Victorians just seem like they should be painted vibrant happy colors.
I appreciate the attention to detail, but the results seem joyless. They had a shade of green that some people might object to; they have achieved a look that's so safe, nobody could possibly object to it. Or notice it. Thank goodness for the gold, and for the fineness of the dentils etc. This is probably a house that doesn't make an impression until you're right up on top of it.
http://sfprojectnest.blogspot.com/2011/08/painted-lady.html
I wasn't a huge fan of this until I read the blog on the repaint job. It's gorgeous. Apartment Therapy didn't do a great job of picking out good photos. The "before" was actually really dingy and faded (not apparent in the photo on this website) and the "after" is beautiful and elegant and shiny and cared-for (also not very apparent on this website). It's lovely. I encourage you to click through.
Leave it to Apartment Therapy commenters. Really? These nice people spent untold thousands on trying to restore the building and keeping it looking nice and instead of faded and dingy, like most of the homes in Alamo Square. Cant we just say "Thank you for sharing your home with us" instead of tearing them apart and making them feel like they wasted three months and all their money.
I think its beautiful and would be honored to live there. And thank you for putting yourself on the firing line for AT.
Yes to what DOMESTICA said!! Thank you for sharing your beautiful home with us! Congratulations on a job well done.
I'm with Kakugori above. This is not a restoration. A restoration would involve hiring a conservator to investigate the paint colors and determine what color the house was painted originally (or at certain periods in its history). It's what I do for a living and I have to say it's irritating when people conflate "color consultants" with conservators.
That said, the paint scheme is lovely.
The paint job is absolutely beautiful. The gold accents are fantastic. I love how much design went into the work, particularly in choosing the right combination of colors.
Gorgeous but 3 months. NOw I know why I don't own a home. I prefer to travel.
I like them both. I agree with the others that the before and after pictures should show the same angle with similar lighting so we can really see the impact of the change. In this case, the direct sunlight in the after picture seems to have washed out the colors. The angle of the before picture has a more natural perspective that shows the home.
Wow, painting contractors working on a row house for THREE MONTHS. I do NOT want to imagine what that cost.
My best friend lives across the street this house. :)
The after looks much more fresh and the new colors really make the details pop. The before isn't terrible but I definitely like the after better.
I am sure the after looks better. It must be the location from which the after photo was taken. It is a bit hard to grasp the overall look of the Lady. What fun it would be to choose colors for this place. Friends of mine just painted their Lady. They had a great idea: Take a photo of the house, print it out on a large piece of paper, trace it, make photo copies of the drawing, then gather all you colored pencils and have fun! Photoshop obviously works too if you have it. :-)
Wow, if those are historically correct colors, Victorians must have been the McMansions of their day? Awfully ho-hum to me. Perhaps I'm simply jaded from seeing the brightly colored Painted Ladies.
Amazing - looks a lot fresher.
1. You may like the paint colors from before better, but a) they were picked by the same company that picked the after and b) the paint was old enough that if you look closely it needed to be touched up.
2. Why is this post being repeated? It was originally from February.
Am I the only one who is wondering why this was included on AT? The paint job looks fantastic. But it it wasn't a major rennovation, striking design, or innovative idea. They just repainted their house with a similar color scheme to what it was before with a few neat details.
Is it my imagination or hasn't this story been featured earlier on already?
Looks very fresh.
Job well done! we had our small queen ann painted with only 4 colors and it cost $8000 and took 2 weeks. I would guess this multi-unit victorian cost at least 3 times that amount.
http://dailyknickknacks.blogspot.com/2011/06/exterior-paint-done.html
I really want to like the after better but I fault the angle and the light for making the photo look washed out. I didn't love the before but I did like it in the posted photos better than the after.
Beautiful house. In our neck o'the woods the Historical Society (fondly referred to as the 'Hysterical Society') provides a list of acceptable/historically accurate paint colors from which to choose. While I applaud their efforts, too many choose gray. Consequently, the Historical District here has lost much of its charm. I'd love to see this house IRL. I can only imagine it in all its glory. The various hues are undetectable on my monitor...it all looks like the safe gray:(
I think both look a bit sad, actually. The before was washed out, but even if it hadn't been the colors in front seem dark and the green not particularly happy. The after is fine. I love the detail work and I think those shades of blue shine at the top and with the gold accents. I don't think it needs fuchsia, but maybe a happier blue? Something for contrast other than white? The job looks so well done and you can tell they had professionals, but I don't know if I would have chosen the same color expert as the 80s job.
Isn't this a repost?
The paint job looks well done, but the color choice is just so safe. I don't think the city needs any more grey-ish Victorians. The Victorian architecture is so OTT, I think the color palette could be a lot bolder.
I think there should be a rule that anyone who posts, "I liked it better before" has to also post a link to a project THEY did to improve something. Seriously, it takes some guts to put yourself out there. You can like something better before but at least acknowledge that people are making an effort. Sheesh.
HEY LORELSKI: it is a re-post.
points to the both owners of the semi-attached houses to paint the same colours at the same time, twice yet.
correction: points go to both owners..
I good paint job on a detached Victorian in San Francisco can cost over $100,000. Really. I have restored many a Victorian, and I will name some names here: I have to say, Bob Buckter's dated color choices are so "off", and so 1980s. I do not like them at all. The before shot, the greens are off and very 80s. And the after shot, the colors are way off 90s, and look like a cheap business suit. There was a guy named Michael who ran a painting company in the 80s and 90s who brought earthly delightful colors to San Francisco. His paint colors can be seen at 21st and Guerrero, and all over Alamo Square and the Western Addition. Now, that guy knew his colors. But if I never again see another pinky rosy gray or bad green Bob Buckter job, it will be too soon. And no, I have never hired either of these guys. I do my own colors. I'm just sayin' it's funny that finally, here on Apartment Therapy, I am seeing comments by so many people that are, well, "meh". Having said all that, the painting contractor who did this building did a pretty good job.
Ok, so after leaving that bitchy post earlier today, I did some digging and found out that Eterne is still in business in Oregon and has a website. I kid you not, I am not affiliated with them, but I think their colors and before/afters are the best ever. Check them out!
http://tunsondesign.com/eterne/Exterior.html
Hello Everyone. Thank you Andi and Dean for posting this and giving the opportunity to restore one of the most beautiful homes in San Francisco.
terrible. that pink one next door is way better. i was really hoping for something gorgeous when i saw this beautiful house! i hope the next people who own it have a bit more uh... imagination!
This is a great result for a Victorian. I loved the outcome and since professionals do it, it is no wonder why it resulted great! I also find Denver painting contractor a very useful when it comes to this kind of paint job as well. They also have great background and experience in doing professional paintings.
This is a great result for a Victorian. I loved the outcome and since professionals do it, it is no wonder why it resulted great! I also find Denver painting contractor a very useful when it comes to this kind of paint job as well. They also have great background and experience in doing professional paintings.
This is a great result for a Victorian. I loved the outcome and since professionals do it, it is no wonder why it resulted great! I also find Denver painting contractor a very useful when it comes to this kind of paint job as well. They also have great background and experience in doing professional paintings.
Wow what a beautiful piece of property! Does anyone know where I can find similar real estate in concord nc? Thanks so much!
Just wanted to heartfully thank you for remembering the beautiful work of Michael Tunson who truly has a serious artful talent for color. You are absolutely right about the earthly, delightful colors he uses. I am Michael's wife now but not when he did all the great work in San Francisco. We are in Portland now and he has continued amazing work here which you have seen on the website. Alas though I think our hearts were left in San Francisco and we are actively planning to return. Michael certainly does love and appreciate consulting by mail until we physically return. Thanks again! Always great to be reminded of a great time, "back in the day".